Tufted mattress and method of tufting the same



Feb. 12, 1957 y L. T. GITLIN Y 2,780,818

l TUFTED MATTRESS AND METHOD OF TUFTING THE SAME Filed June 29, 1954 mgm26 INVENTOR LOUIS T. GITLIN ATTORNEY TUFTED MATTRESS AND METHD OFTUFTING im SAME Louis T. Gitiin, Brooklyn, N. Y. Application .lune 29,1954, Serial No. 440,101

4 Claims. (Cl. 5-356) This invention relates to a tufted mattress andmethod of tufting the same.

The invention pertains to Virtually every type of mattress construction,including those which contain springs and those which are springless.The invention also pertains to tufted cushions and tufted upholsteredfurniture and the like.

rhe principal object of this invention is the provision of a tuftedmattress or the like which is tufted without the aid of tufting buttonsor similar externally disposed fastening members. Conventional tuftingis done with tufting buttons disposed against the outside coverings oft-he mattress or other tufted article and with tufting cords whichextend through the mattress and are connected to the tufting buttons.Tufting buttons are undesirable for many reasons. For example, theycollect foreign matter between them and the mattress proper, renderingit quite difficult to maintain the mattress in a perfectly clean andsanitary condition. This is especially true of mattresses which are usedin public institutions, such as hospitals, and in hotels and otherpublic lodging houses. Tufting buttons also render a mattress ratheruncomfortable since they press against the body. Furthermore, the use oftufting buttons in combination with tufting cords necessitates theformation of holes in the mattress coverings through which the tuftingcords or the tufting button eyes must project. These holes serve aspassageways through which foreign matter may enter the mattress andthrough which some of the stuffing or lling of the mattress may escape.

In the present invention tufting cords are used but not tufting buttons.Instead, looped tapes are secured to the inner sides of the outercoverings of the mattress and the tufting cords inter-engage said loopedtapes and tie them together. More specifically, the looped tapes of oneouter covering are tied tothe looped tapes of the other outer coveringby means of said tufting cords. These looped tapes are secured to thecoverings by simply sewing them thereto or by any other suitable means.When they are sewn to the coverings, all that can be seen on the outsideof the coverings are the stitches of thread. It is assumed here that theusual covering for a mattress is made of cloth known as ticking. Whereit is found desirable to cover a mattress with plastic material orrubberized fabric, it may be found desirable to weld or cement thelooped tapes to said coverings.

Another important object of this invention is the provision of loopedtapes of predetermined lengths to measure and gauge and also to insure apredetermined thickness in the finished mattress. The loops on one ofthe coverings are long enough to project through the entire mattresswhen it is compressed to approximately its ultimate or finishedthickness. The loops on the opposite covering are relatively small andwhen the loops of the two coverings are tied together, a tufted mattressis produced to uniform, predetermined thickness dimensions.

Still another object of this invention is the provision of a methodoftufting mattresses which makes use of the 2,780,818 Patented Feb. l2,1957 looped tapes and tufting cords above mentioned, wherein the tuftingcords perform only two functions: In the first place, they are used topull or draw the longer looped tapes through the mattress. In the secondplace, they tie the longer and shorter loops to each other to compressthe mattress and to provide a tufted effect.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. l is a fragmentary section through a tufted spring mattress made inaccordance with this invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view showing how the looped tapes maybe secured to the mattress coverings and how they may be tied to eachother.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary section showing one of the steps in the tuftingprocess herein described, said Step comprising looping a tnfting cordthrough one of the long looped tapes and then using said t-ufting cordto draw said looped tape through the mattress.

Fig. 4 shows the mattress of Fig. 3 turned upside-down and the tuftingcord drawn through one of the smaller looped tapes.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view showing one way of forming andattaching a looped tape to a covering of the mattress.

Fig. 5A. is a similar view showing another method of forming andattaching said looped tape to the mattress covering.

Fig. 6 is another perspective view showing one of the smaller loopedtapes formed and secured in the manner of the larger looped tape shownin Fig. 5.

Fig. 6A is a view similar to that of Fig. 6 showing one of the smallerlooped tapes formed and fastened in the manner of the larger looped tapeshown in Fig. 5A.

Referring now to Fig. l of the drawing, it will be seen that mattress 10is intended to be of conventional construction, save for its tuftingmeans. It is a spring mattress with inner coiled springs 12 bearingagainst upper and lower burlap sheets llfi'and 16 or the like. Disposedagainst burlap sheet 14 is a layer of sisal t8 or the like and a similarlayer of sisal 20 -or the like is disposed against burlap sheet 16. Alayer of felt 22 or the like is laid against sisal layer i8 and asimilar felt layer 24 or the like is disposed against sisal layer 2t). Acloth covering 26 is disposed at against felt layer 22 and a similarcloth covering 23 is disposed fiat against felt layer 24. When all ofthese components are brought together in the manner shown in thedrawing, they constitute a complete mattress except for the outercoverings or tickings 3d and 32 respectively and the tufting materials.

The tufting materials consist of three elements: A long loop 34, a shortloop 36, and a tufting cord or tie string 38. The long loop 34 issecured to the outer covering or ticking 30. The shorter loop 33 issecured to the other outer covering or ticking 32. The tufting cord 38is looped through the larger loop 3ft and then through the smaller loop36 and it is then tied to draw the two loops 34 and 36 into abutmentwith each other. in one form of this invention, loop 34 is formed andfastened to ticking 3@ at the same time. its two ends are brought intooverlapping relation and they are then sewn both to each other and tothe ticking by means of stitching 40. Similarly, the two ends of smallloop 36 are brought into overlapping relation and they are then sewnboth to each other and to ticking 32 by means of stitching 42.

In another form of this invention, a long loop 64 is preformed prior toits being affixed to the ticking 3th. In Fig. 5A loop 44 is shown tohave its ends tied together to form a knot do. The loop is then securedto the ticking 30 by means of stitching 48. Stitching 49 does not formloop 44 as does stitching 40 form loop 34. Similarly, Fig. 6A shows asmall loop 50 whose ends are tied together kto form a knot 52. Thisloop, too, is preformed and it is then secured to ticking 32 by means ofstitching 54. Applicant has found the latter practice to bemost.satisfactory,-namely, pre-forming theloops and` then` securing themto the tickings, but the .formerpraof tice of forming theloops by thevery act of securing .theml to thetickings is also a satisfactorymethod. Y

It is important to understand that when-the larger and, smaller loopsare brought into abutment with eachother and tied together by thetufting cords, `the-combinedV lengths of cach pair of long and shortloops corresponds to the desired thickness of the nishedmattress in thetufted areas. vSince-all of the longer loops are of identical size andall of thc shorter loops are alsoof identical size, the finishedmattress will have a uniform thickness throughout when all of the longloops are tied to the corresponding short loops.-

The method ofaccomplishing this result is as follows: A tufting cord 3Sis looped through a long loop 34 (oi 44) and'it is then drawn throughthe mattress, pulling f the long loop along with it. This is done'withconventional tufting needles, and the 'direction of movement is from thetop down. After all of the long loops are thus engaged and the tuftingcords drawn downwardly through the mattress, the mattress is tuinedupside-down from its Fig. 3 position with ticking 39 on top to its Fig.4 position with ticking 30 on the bottom. 'Picking 32 is now laid uponthe mattress and one of the ends of each tufting cord 38 is drawnthrough a small loop 36 (or S0), Thev mattress is compressed byconventional means andthe tufting cords 38 are pulled taut to bring thelong and short loops into abutment with each other as shown in Figs. l

and 2. The ends of each tufting cord 38 are then tied together to form aknot and the excess portions of these ends are then cut or trimmed oif.The mattress is now completely tufted as showni'n Fig. 1.

The foregoing is illustrative of a preferred form of this invention andit will be understood that variations thereof are possible andcontemplated'within the broad spirit of the invention andthe broad scopeof the claims.

I claim:

1. A tufted mattress construction, comprising a matv tress having toppadding and top covering and bottom padding and bottom covering,l loopssecured to the top covering and projecting downwardly into the mattress'through said top and bottom padding in the direction of the bottomcovering, additional loops secured to the bottom covering and projectingupwardly into the bottom padding of the mattress in the direction of thetop covering, and tie strings tying said first loops and said addiftional loops into end-to-end abutment with'each other.

2. A tufted mattress construction,"comp'rising a mattress having toppadding and top 'covering' and bottom padding and bottom covering, loopssecured to the top covering and projecting downwardly into' 'themattress to the -desired thickness of the mattress at the point'of A'tufting, all of said first loops' beingA of equal length and ail of saidadditional loops being also of equal length, so that the combinedlengths of all of the first loops and the additional'loops'tied theretoyare equal, thereby providing the entire mattress-withl uniformthickness throughout at all of the points at which the iirst loops andthe additional loops are secured to the two coverings.

3. A tufted mattress construction, comprising a mattress having `toppadding aud top covering andbottompadding and bottom covering, loopssecured to thetop covering and projecting downwardly into the mattressthrough said top and bottom padding in the direction of the bottomcovering, additional loops secured to the bottom covering and projectingupwardly into the bottom padding of the mattress in the direction of thetop covering, and tie strings tying said first loops and said additionalloops` intoend-to-end abutment with each other, said first loops whichare secured to the top covering beingv relatively-long and correspondingin length, substantially,to the desired thickness of the mattress at thepoint of tufting, said additional loops which are secured to thefbottomcovering being relatively small and contributing but slightly'to thelength of said first loops to which they are tied in end-to-end abutmentwith each otherz" 4. A tufted mattress construction, comprising top andbottom 'coverings enclosing a mattress having top and bottom padding, aplurality of looped tapes of predetermineduniform' length individuallysewn to said top covering and' extending through the top and bottompadding, a corresponding number of additional looped tapes ofpredetermined"unif0rm"length individually secured to thebottonr'covering,'and'tie strings tying the looped tapes of the topcovering into end-to-end abutment with the loopedtapes of the bottomcovering.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,947,216 Mic'on Feb. 13, 1934 2,245,930 f Marsack r June 17, 1941"2,281,104 Y Marquardt Apr. 28, 1942 2,331,142: Selukl Oct. 5, 1943FOREIGN PATENTS 453,543 Great 'Britain'. Sept. 14, 1936

